A Brief History

In January of 1974, John Clifford, a Los Angeles native, and principal dancer and choreographer with the New York City Ballet, was invited by Mrs. Betty Empey, then general manager of a student company, "Los Angeles 'Jr' Ballet," to return to his home in Los Angeles to perform as a guest artist with this company, and to stage several of his ballets. This well-established pre-professional ensemble was directed by Clifford's former teacher, Irina Kosmovska, and Miriam Golden Zeigler. The performances were a great success, and soon several arts leaders in the community approached Clifford with the idea to return full-time to Los Angeles and establish what was soon to become Los Angeles’ first successful resident professional ballet. Chief among these visionaries were Mrs. Marvin "Marta" Holen, Mrs. Irving "Jean" Stone, James Jacobson, Victor M Carter, Charles Luckman, and John F. Kimberling.

Many attempts had been made in the past, even by George Balanchine, Eugene Loring (choreographer of “Billy the Kid”) and David Lichine, but it was not until Clifford’s return that a professional company finally took root and flowered.

The original board of directors, which Clifford assembled, was a broad cross section of leaders in the entertainment and business communities and the dancers were drawn from the New York City Ballet and local dance schools, primarily the one directed by Clifford’s former teacher, Irina Kosmovska. John Clifford was already a choreographer of international acclaim (his ballets were in the repertory of the San Francisco Ballet, the Deutsche Oper Ballet - Berlin, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and eight for the New York City Ballet) and the “Prize Prodigy” of George Balanchine, so it was with Balanchine’s blessing and help that the original Los Angeles Ballet soon acquired eighteen ballets by the master, as well as classics by Marius Petipa, Michael Fokine, August Bournonville, and modern works by Deborah Zall, and Peter Lems. Clifford himself created over fifty new works, including full-length versions of The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and the great star, Alexandra Danilova collaborated with Clifford on Los Angeles Ballet’s Coppelia. Guest artists such as Alicia Alonzo, Gelsey Kirkland, Allegra Kent, Peter Martins, Violette Verdy, Kay Mazzo, Merrill Ashley, Patricia McBride, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Anthony Blum, Ghislaine Thesmar, Michael Denard, Alexander Minz, Jorge Esquivel, etc. appeared with the company on an on-going basis and brought the best of international ballet to Los Angeles.

In the ten years of that company’s existence (the company’s board of directors voluntarily disbanded the company in 1985 due to local infighting in the arts community) the Los Angeles Ballet had five U.S. National tours, toured to the Far-East, Canada, Mexico, and even to Saudi Arabia, and always to critical praise. The company averaged over 100 yearly performances in the Southern California area, and gave performances in virtually every University in the Southland. Los Angeles Ballet appeared often on television and in numerous major motion pictures and performed with the Rock groups Chicago and George Benson. The company appeared with the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, and at the Los Angeles Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek Theater, the Shrine and Ambassador Auditoriums, the Pantages and Huntington Hartford Theaters, Lincoln Center, Artspark (New York State) and established the John Anson Ford Theater as a summer home for dance.

The company’s affiliate school, the Los Angeles Dance Center, had an enrollment of over 350 children and classes for teens and adults. Dancers that were trained at this school include Damian Woetzel, Darci Kistler, and Jock Soto, all current principal dancers with the New York City Ballet. Mr. Woetzel was first seen as a principal dancer with Los Angeles Ballet and Ms. Kistler was an apprentice. Other graduates went on to stellar careers with the Zurich Ballet, Ballets de Monte Carlo, HET National Ballet – Holland, San Francisco and Frankfurt Ballets, and other international companies.

One year after the first Los Angeles Ballet was disbanded, Clifford was asked by leading dance agent, Gary Lindsey to establish the smaller touring sized “Ballet of Los Angeles.” This company toured from 1987 through 1991 and once again, always to unanimous critical acclaim
.

The rebirth in 2005 of John Clifford’s Los Angeles Ballet is due in no small part to the creation of “Casablanca, The Dance” which is to be the first production of Warner Bros. new live division, “Warner Bros. Theatrical Ventures.” Based on a concept by Clifford and brought to Warner Bros. by Clifford’s ICM agent, Hal Ray, Warner Bros. has contracted with Clifford’s company to produce this full-length ballet to have its world premiere this April in Beijing, China with a world tour to follow. The opening will be at the historic “Great Hall of the People” in Beijing for one week. Auditions were held on Feb. 10th and 37 dancers have now been hired for the tour of "Casablanca, The Dance."

Performances in Los Angeles and the re-establishment of its school are now top priorities and once again Los Angeles will be a serious center for American dance.